SECRETS TO SUCCESS
Part 5

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life”
(Proverbs 4:23).

8. LIVE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD

We either live our lives independently, trust in ourselves, or rely upon God moment by moment. This is the picture of abiding in Christ, living in His presence, walking with Him.

We read the example of four different men who lived in God’s presence.

ABRAHAM

When Abraham told Eliezer, his servant, to go and find a bride for his son, Isaac he said: “The LORD before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way, and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred and my father’s house” (Genesis 24;40).

What a beautiful testimony! Wouldn’t you love to have that testimony spoken over your life? Because Abraham walked with God each day, He knew His God. He knew he could trust Him to give Eliezer success to find a bride for his son a bride.

Other translations say:

AMPC: “The Lord, in Whose presence I walk (habitually), will send His Angel with you and prosper your way.”

NLT: “The LORD, in whose presence I have lived . . . “

JOSEPH

Even Though Joseph went through much suffering, being cast out from his family as a teenager, thrown out of Potiphar’s house because of lies, and then put in prison and forgotten. Yet in every situation God made him successful because he acknowledged God in everything he did.

Read the whole chapter of Genesis 39 to see how God was with Joseph:

“And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. . . The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand: because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.”

HEZEKIAH

The testimony of Hezekiah is that he cleaved to the Lord and therefore he walked in God’s presence.

2 Kings 18:3-7: “He trusted in the LORD God of Israel . . . For he cleaved to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments . . . And the LORD was with him; and he prospered withersoever he went forth.”

ASA

Read The testimony of King Asa in 2 Chronicles 15:9: “They fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.”

Do our children see that we live in the presence of the Lord? Do people around about us see that the Lord is with us?

9. KEEP A SOFT HEART

How important it is to keep a soft heart before the Lord. This is one of the secrets to success.

Job 9:4: “Who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?” This is a rhetorical question. The answer is obvious that we will never prosper if we don’t let go of hardness and bitterness.

Proverbs 29:1: “He that being often reproved hardened his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”

TPT: “Stubborn people who repeatedly refuse to accept correction, will suddenly be broken and never recover.”

ESV: “He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.”

And we know Jesus words to us in Matthew 19 8 that “hardness of heart” leads to divorce. We must take the warning of this Scripture to heart. Life is not perfect. Marriage is not perfect. There will be times when your husband says and does things that hurt you. You can either get hard and bitter which, if you let hardness fester, can lead to divorce and destruction.

Or you can ask the Holy Spirit to work in your heart, melt the hardness, and give you a soft heart. A soft heart is beautiful thing. It leads to life, peace, and blessing.

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, I want to keep a soft heart before You in every situation. Please expose any hardness in my heart that grieves Your Holy Spirit. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

To keep a soft heart is my daily desire,

I will not stay cold for I want my heart on fire.